is that peace treaty stween israel and egypt on the verge of collapse? >> it's vital not just for israel, egypt, it's vital for the entire region, for the world. we understand this. we think the egyptians understand this full well. the egyptians have played a constructive role in the past mediating -- i think they can play the similar role today. >> are they? >> i think they can. >> but are that? >> that's all i can say right now is i think they can play a constructive role. and we hope they will. >> that suggests to me they're not yet doing that. >> well, right now the situation's very fluid on the ground. and hamas shows every intention of escalating further. it's not stepping down. >> mr. ambassador, thanks very much for coming in. we're watching this situation very, very closely. >> thank you, wolf. >> michael oren is the israeli ambassador to the united states. in our next hour we're going to take a look at what the u.s. -- if the u.s. can do anything about this escalating violence that's going on, the tensions escalating between the israelis and th